Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

為 (radical 86 火+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 戈大弓火 (IKNF), four-corner 2022₇)

Descendants

• ゐ

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 669, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 18981
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2198, character 11
• Unihan data for U+70BA

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 為
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script

Simplified from 爲 (爫 → 丶). In the oracle bone script, it is an Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 又 ‎(“hand”) + 象 ‎(“elephant”) — a hand holding an animal (an elephant or a monkey). The 又 later became 爪 (“hand; claw”). Shuowen Jiezi explained the character to be a representation of the female macaque.

Etymology

The two pronunciations below (“to make; to do; to be”, “for; to; because”) are cognate; the latter is the *–s derivative of the former. Words meaning “to make, to do” often have secondary meanings of “for, as” – compare 作.

Etymology not certain. Starostin compared this word with Tibetan བགྱིད་པ ‎(bgyid pa, “to make, to manufacture”), བགྱི་བ ‎(bgyi ba, “action, deed”), ཡིན ‎(yin, “is, be”) and Burmese ဝေ ‎(we, “to distribute, to share”). Schuessler (2007) listed *ʔaayh ‎(“to give”) (> Khmer ឲ្យ ‎(“to give, to donate”)) and Khmer ធ្វើ ‎(thveu, “to do, to make”), although the vowels do not match.

The graphic representation using monkey or elephant probably stems a homophonic or near-homophonic etymon which was rarely attested; compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/g-woj-n > Jingpho woi ‎(“monkey”) and possibly 猿 (OC *ɢʷan, “ape”). Outside Sino-Tibetan, compare Proto-Vietic *-vɔːj ‎(“elephant”) > Vietnamese voi ‎(“elephant”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

為

1. to do; to make
2. (to turn, to transform) into; to
   • 分為 / 分为  ―  fēnwèi  ―  to divide into, to split into
   • 那兩個組織已合併為一個組織。 [MSC, trad.]
     那两个组织已合并为一个组织。 [MSC, simp.]

     Nà liǎng ge zǔzhī yǐ hébìng wéi yī ge zǔzhī. [Pinyin]

     Those two organizations have been amalgamated into single one.

   • 它將重新結晶為原來的結構。 [MSC, trad.]
     它将重新结晶为原来的结构。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā jiāng chóngxīn jiéjīng wéi yuánlái de jiégòu. [Pinyin]

     It will recrystallize into the original structure.

   • 他被晉升為上校。 / 他被晋升为上校。  ―  Tā bèi jìnshēng wéi shàngxiào.  ―  He was promoted to colonel.
3. to be (equivalent to, equal to)
   • 失業率為20%。 / 失业率为20%。  ―  Shīyèlǜ wéi 20%.  ―  Unemployment is running at 20 per cent.
   • 它的寬度為7米。 / 它的宽度为7米。  ―  Tā de kuāndù wéi 7 mǐ.  ―  It is 7 metres in width.
   • 一公斤為兩磅。 / 一公斤为两磅。  ―  Yī gōngjīn wéi liǎng bàng.  ―  A kilo is two pounds.
4. to take something as
   • 亦以皮為麻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     亦以皮为麻。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
     From: Tang Dynasty, Fan Chuo, Manshu, chapter 7, part 7

     yì yǐ pí wèi má. [Pinyin]

     ...its skin can also be used as fabric.

5. to act as; to serve as; to behave as
6. as (in the capacity of)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

為

1. for; to
   • 我能為你做點什麼嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
     我能为你做点什么吗？ [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ néng wèi nǐ zuò diǎn shénme ma? [Pinyin]

     What can I do for you?

   • 我真為你高興！ / 我真为你高兴！  ―  Wǒ zhēn wèi nǐ gāoxìng!  ―  I am really happy for you!
   • 他為自己的錯誤道歉。 [MSC, trad.]
     他为自己的错误道歉。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā wèi zìjǐ de cuòwù dàoqiàn. [Pinyin]

     He gave an apology for his mistake.

2. because of

   你為這生氣哦。 / 你为这生气哦。  ―  Nǐ wèi zhè shēngqì ò.  ―  So that's what you're upset about?

3. for the sake of

   不為五斗米折腰 / 不为五斗米折腰  ―  bù wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo  ―  don't bow down for the sake of five pecks (or decalitres) of rice

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 爲)

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Readings

• On: い (i) > ゐ (wi)
• Kun: ため (tame), なる (為る, naru), なす (為す, nasu), する (為る, suru), たり (tari), つくる (為る, tsukuru), なり (nari)
• Nanori: びい (bii)

Noun

為 ‎(hiragana ため, romaji tame)

1. benefit
2. sake; reason

Usage notes

The kana writing is preferred over the kanji spelling.

Verb

為 ‎(irregular conjugation, hiragana す, romaji su)

1. to do

Derived terms

• 為 (す)る ‎(suru)

Compounds

Korean

Hanja

為 • ‎(wi) (hangeul 위) 為 (wi; hangul: 위)

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Vietnamese

Han character

為 (vi, vị)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.